Mandella hopes Gas Total will relish Possibly Perfect’s long distance
ARCADIA, Calif. – Way back in 2012, Gas Total was second in a Group 1 race for 3-year-old fillies in Brazil. Last month, she was second in the Grade 1 Vanity Stakes at Santa Anita, her American stakes debut.
In between, Gas Total raced in Argentina in 2013, where she was stakes-placed, and in France last year, where she won an allowance race at Pornichet, a minor seaside track. Gas Total has never run 1 1/2 miles on turf, an assignment she faces for the first time in Sunday’s $75,000 Possibly Perfect Stakes for fillies and mares at Santa Anita.
Considering her background, and that Gas Total won her American debut in an optional claimer at a mile on turf in March, trainer Richard Mandella is willing to take a shot. He is banking on the stamina Gas Total showed when she won at Pornichet at 1 5/16 miles on a synthetic track to help her chances in the Possibly Perfect.
“She’s run well going long distances,” Mandella said. “I don’t know what the quality was. I think she should like it.”
Gas Total is part of a field of seven that includes the French import Gaga A, who won two stakes in France last year; Scooter Bird, who won an allowance race at 1 1/2 miles on turf here last October; and Customer Base, who was second in the 2014 Possibly Perfect Stakes.
Gaga A, a 6-year-old Uruguayan-bred mare trained by Neil Drysdale, began her career in South America. Last November, she won a Group 3 at 1 5/16 miles on turf at Toulouse, France.
Gas Total was beaten a length by My Sweet Addiction in the Vanity Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on dirt. A 6-year-old mare, she closed from last of four to be closest to the leaders at the finish.
Mandella hoped to run the two-time champion Beholder in the Vanity, but she was sidelined by an illness in the days before the race. Gas Total was entered to help fill the field before Beholder was withdrawn and wound up giving the stable a placing.
“She was doing good at the time,” Mandella said. “I put her in there because it was a small field. I took a shot. She ran well. I was surprised at her.”